


Bottle Caps, Pop Tabs, & Other Unmentionables

by leavesfallfrom



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Dallas Stars, Drama, F/M, Hockey, National Hockey League, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-10 21:54:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8940916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leavesfallfrom/pseuds/leavesfallfrom
Summary: Magnolia Lynne was broke, it was as simple as that. There was no money left for food, rent, let alone for her car payments or tuition. She needed a job, and she needed one like ten minutes ago.   Tyler Seguin is a big hockey hotshot. He has everything he has ever wanted; fancy cars, dream job, and a house that is too big for just one person. A story full of bottle caps, pop tabs, and other unmentionables.





	1. Chapter 1

Magnolia needed a job.

At this point she was desperate. There was barely enough money for next months rent, let alone tuition for the next semester, or her car payments that came promptly every month. A box of Kraft Dinner, a can of tomato soup, and a box of crackers sat in the cupboard, not to mention the jar of maple syrup and a carton of milk in the fridge. She had been scrimping every day, trying to get by, trying to prove to herself that she could do this. Magnolia could live on her own, she could live in a different country, go to school, have her own place.

Magnolia realized she couldn’t do this two weeks ago when she couldn’t hand over the cheque for this months rent. She had never been late on anything, every assignment she handed in on time, her period was scheduled like clock work, the expensive phone bill was paid on time, but this month Magnolia just could not keep up.

Magnolia needed a job.

In the meantime, she’d wait for money to be transferred into her account and a package of hand selected goodies (as per her request) to be delivered, courtesy of her mother. For now though, it would be Kraft Dinner for tonight’s meal before she headed out for her evening lecture.

Just like everything else in Magnolia’s life seemed to be at the moment, she was late to class. Being greeted with a look from her professor as she snuck in to the back row of seats and quickly took out her notebook and pen as he continued on about the topic for the night, W.H. Auden. Just like every other class, notes were taken, passages were read, and a discussion was held between peers, within three hours later Magnolia found herself walking beside Charlotte, talking about a party she was going to that night. As much as Magnolia didn’t want to go, she was able to use her excuse for scrounging up newspapers and searching the classifieds; hoping there would be something she could do to get a little extra cash.

Her arms were filled with newspapers when she reached her apartment building, and after settling in with a highlighter, pen, and notebook; she began the job search.

Car salesman. Nope. Bartender. Not a fan of loud places, nor did she know how to mix drinks. Calculus tutor. Not a fan of math in general, so she’d definitely have to pass on that one. For every ad, Magnolia held a running commentary of how she’d perform on the job and none of them looked appealing in her head, nor could she perform half the tasks the job entailed.  
At Maid Masters, we ensure consistent service by reliable cleaning professionals who are bonded, insured, and trained to clean any home. Do you think you have what it takes to be apart of our team? Send us your cover letter and resume, telling us why you want to work with the Maid Masters!

Cleaning. Magnolia knew how to clean and she could clean well. She was very confident in her cleaning skills so after writing up some bogus cover letter about how her life goal was to clean peoples houses for a living and how she thrived off of organization and being part of a team blah blah blah.

Now all she had left to do was wait and pray that she got this job, because her options had dwindled significantly after scouring the papers.

//\\\

“Hi, this is Angelica from Maid Masters, we’d like to schedule an interview, if you’d be so kind as to call us back, that would be wonderful. Hope to speak soon.” Her fist shot into the air and with the other shovelled a spoonful of leftover Kraft Dinner into her mouth as she replayed the voicemail to make sure she had heard right.

Magnolia had definitely heard the message correctly because she was penned in for 9:00am Monday morning ready to express how much she loved cleaning.

//\\\

“This is Maybelle,” Angelica introduced a girl standing in the doorway as she handed over a printed copy of the job offer to Magnolia “you will be her shadow for the next two days. She will be showing you the ropes, all about our products, how we clean, all that jazz! And depending on the house, you may be working together!”

Magnolia nodded and signed the offer, handing it back over and taking another glance towards Maybelle, wondering if she too put forth the same amount of enthusiasm as Angelica did while doing her job.

Everything was signed and Magnolia was handed two sets of scrubs with the Maid Masters logo and quickly headed back to her apartment to drop everything off and get to class.

“How did it go?” Charlotte asked once Magnolia was seated in beside her.  
“Good, I’ve got my first shift tomorrow morning,” Magnolia whispered as their class began to settle down for the lecture on medieval writing.

//\\\

“So just be prepared, not everyone actually cleans their house before we go in,” May warned as she unlocked the doors to their first stop of the day. “People seem to think we are a laundry service as well, unfortunately for them that’s not in our job description.”

Magnolia was a bit wary as she stepped into the house, May had been very forthcoming with details and her experiences in what she’s seen during her time working as a maid, and now Magnolia wasn’t as enthusiastic as when she woke up this morning and thought that money was actually going to be in her bank account. Now her only thoughts were ‘Was she going to be scarred for life?’

The house wasn’t in too bad condition, there were things left on the floor and on countertops but that was to be expected, even her place somewhat resembled this house.

“Everything is straight forward, Pledge for dusting, Windex for mirrors, Vim for sinks and toilet bowls…” May went on explaining each product and what it was used for, although they were products Magnolia knew very well. And once May was finished blabbering she began cleaning.

At some points Magnolia felt like she was meant for this job, it was fun getting to snoop through peoples things and creating a story for them, just based off of their pictures, what food was in their pantry’s, what kind of shows they wore, it was interesting and definitely helped to pass the time.

Magnolia and Maybelle were meant to be. Maybe it was because their names were so similar, or maybe it was because they were so close in age, with just a year gap in between, but whatever it was she knew, May was the one person she wanted to clean a house with.

The two were on their third and final last stop for the day, when they pulled up to a house that Magnolia could and probably would get lost in.

“Whoa,” Magnolia said under her breath and grabbed he supplies from the back seat, along with the can of Diet Coke she had bought when they had made a pit stop.  
“I still don’t know why you call it ‘pop’ when it’s clearly called soda,” May argued.

It seemed that May hadn’t a clue as to what pop was when Magnolia had mentioned stopping for a drink along the way. No one called it soda back in Canada, and she sure wasn’t going to start called it that now.

After entering the foyer, Magnolia had to stop and take in her surroundings; the place was huge, with high ceilings, brick pillars and a fireplace, and hardwood floors that looked beautiful. There were certainly things that she would have changed about the place, but she scolded herself for criticizing when she didn’t live there; she just had to clean the place.

“This guy is never home, I swear,” May called from where she parked herself in the kitchen.  
“How do you know?” Magnolia asked. Most people weren’t at home when they went to clean their house, as they took off because they just end up in the way, or they don’t want to admit to how dirty their house actually is, so they take off.  
“Because the place is the exact same way I leave it every other time,” she replied and pulled out her cloth and Pledge.

May nodded her head, a sign that Magnolia should follow and so she trailed behind her as she walked into the study.

“That’s him,” she said pointing to a guy who looked to be a year or two older than the two girls. His arms were covered in black ink; he adorned a hockey jersey, helmet, and skates in most of his pictures that were hung in his study, and a big smile took center stage in most of the photos.

“Cute,” Magnolia shrugged and moved on to look at the small collection of hockey memorabilia that sat on the shelves.  
“Cute? That’s it?” May practically squealed “he is more than ‘cute’, he is a smoking hot God. I would kill for a guy like that!”  
“Whatever,” she laughed and threw the cloth she had dropped while looking at his photos in May’s face.

The house wasn’t in a drastic state where every single room needed the ultimate scrub down, it was more light work, and I could tell that May had been right; this guy was never home. She never understood why people owned such grand homes and barely lived in them, but that was none of her business.

“You know what I would like to do?” Magnolia started as she walked back into the kitchen and began packing away the cleaning supplies. “I want to sneak in here one night and have a movie marathon in this guy’s theater, have you seen that room? The screen is huge!”  
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” May laughed.

Magnolia played with the empty can of Diet Coke, tugging on the pop tab, bending it every which way, waiting for the word that they were heading out.

“Can you hand me the bottle beside you?” May asked.

She left her spot, leaving the can and tab on the counter and walked over to hand May the bottle of cleaning solution so she could pack it away.  
“Okay you can grab the bin and I’ll take the two buckets,” May said, handing over the bin full of the dirty cloths, gloves, and some extra bottles.

“Lock up!” May had yelled as Magnolia closed the door to the house as she tossed a set of keys her way.

Magnolia did as told and went over to the small car that was plastered with the Maid Masters logo and contact information and stored the bin in the backseat, before taking her place in the passenger seat alongside May.

 

\-------------------

So....chapter one is here and it's your pretty basic getting to know a main character chapter, but I hope you stick with me on this!! Thanks for reading!!

[Chapter Outfit](So....chapter%20one%20is%20here%20and%20it's%20your%20pretty%20basic%20getting%20to%20know%20a%20main%20character%20chapter,%20but%20I%20hope%20you%20stick%20with%20me%20on%20this!!%20Thanks%20for%20reading!!)


	2. Come On Eileen

“Yeah Mom, I’m just pulling in now, I’ll talk to you later,” Tyler said shifting gears and placing the car into park.

Gathering his gear from the trunk, he headed to unlock the door when he heard scattered feet racing just on the other side. As the door opened, what Tyler found wasn’t a surprise, but it was his favourite part of the day. Cash and Marshall stood in front of Tyler, tongues out, tails wagging back and forth in excitement, and paws prancing in place.

“Boys,” Tyler nodded and reached each hand out to give them a scratch behind their ears “c’mon let’s go!”

The two followed their owner into the kitchen after dropping off his bag at the staircase and made a beeline for the fridge. It had been about a week since Tyler had been home and any chance of food being either a) good or b) there at all, was slim. An apple that was slightly bruised was the snack of choice, and with a little wash and the apple cut into quarters, with a side of peanut butter, Tyler was set. 

There was only one slice left when he reached for the lid to twist back onto the peanut butter jar, and at that same moment was when his eyes caught sight of the stray tab and can of Diet Coke. Tyler didn’t drink Diet Coke and he knew Joanne, his next-door neighbour who looked after Cash and Marshall while he was away, didn’t leave it. 

“I thought the purpose was for the maids to clean, not to leave a mess,” he mumbled to Cash and Marshall, who sat at his feet, hoping that there was still something left of that apple he had been eating.

//\\\

“You’re assignment for this week,” Magnolia’s professor called out to the class “I want for you to choose and re-read a book you read while in high school. I want a five page paper, and all the details you need to know are on this piece of paper that you are going to pick up on your way out.”

After quickly packing up, Magnolia rushed to the front and swiped a copy of the assignment from the pile and booked it out of the building. She only had ten minutes to run back home, change into a pair of her Maid Masters scrubs and head off to work.

It was only her fifth week in working for the Maid Masters, but yet Magnolia had a system in place, which gave her at least an extra half hour of free time. Instead of heading back to the office, she would make use of the time and get some homework done. Starting with the first three houses which were smaller, she’d do a quick run through, get everything spick and span, then she’d head over to meet May at the oversized mansion that they cleaned together. To make life simpler they’d divide and conquer with May taking the main level and Magnolia taking the second level, this way they found they always had time left over. With the first two weeks, the two would spend their free time gossiping about random things, as they were still getting to know one another, but then Magnolia realized that she was wasting valuable time, and decided that she could be doing homework while she was getting paid. 

May had started taking off early, depending on the day, but usually Magnolia stuck around and pulled out the books she had brought along with her. That was her routine and it was nice to have a different spot to do work sometimes, a different view gave her different perspectives. Thus plugging her ears with a pair of headphones was how Magnolia spent the remainder of her half hour.

On todays agenda Magnolia was editing a piece for her creative writing class, and adding some final touches. She had her notebook and a hard copy, which was covered in red marker as she made her way through the twenty-five pages telling her that mistakes needed to be fixed and thoughts that should be reassessed. 

Her mind was so engrossed that she didn’t notice anyone standing in front of her until she reached her hand forward to grasp the bottle of Diet Coke that sat beside her notebook and unscrewed the lid.

“Jesus!” she squealed, slightly jumping off the barstool she had been occupying and spilling a bit of the drink on her scrubs.

Magnolia’s heart was pounding as a girl stood in front of her, and the only thing she could think of was how they were going to fire her.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized, hoping that the girl wasn’t too mad “I finished, the house is clean. I was just finishing up some homework.”

She hurriedly began shoving books into her bag, wanting to make a quick escape, but the girl just waved her hand nonchalantly.

“Don’t worry about it,” she laughed “if the place is clean isn’t that all that matters?”  
“I guess,” Magnolia replied, but continued to pile the last of her books into her bag.

In a rush, she slung the bag over her shoulder and grasped the handle of the bucket that held the cleaning supplies, and headed out the door.

//\\\

“I think your maid is scared of me,” were the first words Tyler heard when he answered his phone.  
“What did you do? And why were you even there in the first place? I told you when they were coming and for you to be gone,” he added.  
“I got back earlier than planned, your welcome for taking your dogs by the way,” Tyler internally groaned when she said this, knowing that he should be grateful. With that he uttered a quick thank you, and hung up the phone, but not before telling her that he’d be home soon.

//\\\

“We need to get out!” Charlotte practically yelled as the two girls left class Friday afternoon.  
“There’s so much work to do,” Magnolia complained, just thinking of all the assignments that had yet to be started and their due dates approaching quickly.  
“It will just be for a couple hours, please,” Charlotte begged “I just want to go dance, then Saturday we can meet at the library and get started on everything.”  
“Fine,” Magnolia agreed and decided on a time and place before the two parted ways.

The Goat was the place to be on a Friday night, or at least for Magnolia and Charlotte it was. The drinks were somewhat affordable and Friday’s were karaoke night, which meant lots of singing and lots of dancing.

It was only 10:45 pm when the two girls met a block away from The Goat, but for Charlotte the walk felt like miles.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have worn heels,” Magnolia mumbled and received a slap to the arm in return for her comment.  
“Not everyone can pull off your outfit,” Charlotte grumbled in response.

Magnolia looked down at her outfit and shrugged because it was nothing special. She was just smart enough to wear a pair of Vans instead of heels that she would definitely regret wearing at two in the morning.  
When the two finally made it, the line-up was extended around the building, as everyone waited their turn. Unbeknownst to the crowd that waited in line, Charlotte was a regular, dropping quite a bit of cash at this place, and was well known by the employees, therefore making the wait for the two girls nonexistent. 

The dance floor was bursting with people dancing along to some unknown song as the two made their way to the bar.

“What can I get you ladies?” the bartender asked.  
“One tequila shot and a Diet Coke please,” Magnolia shouted over the music and dug down into the pocket of her shorts to retrieve some cash.   
“Diet Coke? Really?” Charlotte scoffed at her drink of choice.  
“I order a shot,” Magnolia defended and stuck out her tongue at Charlotte.

The tequila went down smoothly as they walked around the crowd of dancing bodies to find a booth so they could witness those brave enough to sing. The two were enjoying each person brave enough to step on the stage, when an older gentleman took the stage and waited patiently for the music to begin. The opening notes sent Magnolia into a tizzy, gulping down her Diet Coke and tugging on Charlotte’s hand as the man belted out about Eileen’s red dress. Arms were flailing every which way, they shook, and shimmed around in the crowd as they sang along and as the song came to an end, headed back to the booth to settle their beating hearts. 

“This is the last performance of the night, next is DJ Hammertimez,” a man said speaking into the microphone.

“I’m getting another drink,” Magnolia shouted over to Charlotte and pushed her way through the crowd.

She waited at the middle of the bar, hoping that she’d get a drink faster that way. Once the couple in front of her had received their drinks she stepped up and waited to be served.

“Diet Coke please,” she said to the bartender that stood awaiting her order.  
“Are you the DD tonight?” A voice asked from beside Magnolia.

She looked over at the voice and saw a tall male, with inked arms and a beard, leaning up against the bar.

“Nope,” she graced him with a smile and turned back around to see if her drink was ready.

The bartender made his way back over with her drink in hand, and once again Magnolia began digging in her pockets for the change she knew she had, but was stopped when the male spoke up and told the bartender to put it on his tab.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Magnolia said as she grabbed her drink “but thank you.”  
“You straight edge?” he asked, smiling down at her.  
“Nope, just prefer Diet Coke over alcohol,” she shrugged and walked back over to where Charlotte was sat.

It was no surprise that once Magnolia had gotten back to Charlotte, she pounced immediately, asking whom the guy was. Muttering a quick “no one” and taking her first sip of the Diet Coke, the subject was quickly dropped. 

After Charlotte had added a few more shots into her system, she insisted that they get up and finish their night off dancing. Within what felt like seconds Charlotte had attached herself to a man that looked twice their age, leaving Magnolia to herself and from there she edged back off the dance floor. She was close enough to leaving when a pair of hands gripped her waist and a firm chest was pressed up against her back.

Not in the mood for grabby hands, she began peeling the hands away from her waist and turned to face to whom the aforementioned hands belonged to. She stopped halfway when she noticed it was the guy who bought her the Diet Coke.

“You don’t want to dance?” he leaned in to speak into her ear.  
“No, we can dance,” Magnolia nodded, all prior judgement about his grabby hands vanished. 

Turning back around, the man placed his hands back on her waist, holding them there as Magnolia began moving her hips to the music. Together their gyrations were smooth and effortless against one another and soon enough there were facing each other, faces inches apart.

The room had become hot, Magnolia could feel the sweat collect in the dip of her back, she could feel it gather across the top of her lip, and yet as she danced with this person, his hands gave her chills. Magnolia wanted another look at him and after stealing a glance, she found him already looking down at her. His eyesight travelled from her eyes to her lips, out of habit she swiped her tongue across her lips, and for him that was all he needed as he leaned down to connect their lips. 

His lips were chapped and Magnolia could taste a mix of salt and alcohol. She pulled away sooner than she would have liked, but only because PDA wasn’t her thing. 

“I’m Magnolia by the way,” she said, taking a step back from him and offering her hand.  
“Tyler,” he replied and took her hand in his.  
“It was nice to meet you Tyler,” Magnolia smiled as she took another step back.

Although she would have been willing to spend more time attached to Tyler’s lips, she turned and went to find Charlotte, who was still engrossed in dancing with the older man. Grabbing Charlotte’s attention, Magnolia pointed in the direction of the door, indicating that they should be heading out and within a minute Charlotte was standing by her side after she had finished giving the man she was dancing with her phone number.

“You do realize that guy is like fifty,” Magnolia said as the two girls walked back to the block where they started their night.  
“He is not!” Charlotte laughed, playfully slapping her arm “anyway what about that guy you were dancing with huh?”  
“What about him?” she asked “his name is Tyler, can’t say much else about him.”  
“Well he was a hottie,” Charlotte smirked.

Magnolia waved her off, and said their goodbyes for the night, making their way back to the beds until they would see each other the next morning. 

//\\\

Tyler tossed his keys onto their usual place on the kitchen island, but instead of a smooth slide, they hit a bottle, causing it to tip and the contents to spill out.

“Jesus Christ,” he mumbled to himself.

As he went to grab the paper towel to clean up the mess, he noticed the Diet Coke and the lid that sat a ways from the bottle. Not bothering to deal with the issue that night, he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and headed for the stairs, where Cash and Marshall had been waiting patiently.

 

\---------------

[Chapter Outfit](http://www.polyvore.com/come_on_eileen/set?id=213928092)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey hey!!! So here's chapter 2 and I know, things are definitely starting off slow, but hey not everyone can be the rabbit, sometimes ya gotta be the turtle. Please let me know what you're thinking, any thoughts are appreciated!! Thank you for reading!!


	3. Tips

If it were socially acceptable, at this current moment Magnolia would be drinking a Diet Coke. Instead she currently held a strawberry banana smoothie, as she made her way to the library to meet Charlotte as planned. 

She wasn’t one hundred percent sure why they agreed to meet so early when neither of them had classes that day, but she had been up late the night before, cramming out words to finish off a paper that was due Thursday. Searching the library, Magnolia found Charlotte sitting alone at a table looking down at her phone.

“Who are you texting?” Magnolia whispered into Charlotte’s ear as she snuck up behind her.

She jumped slightly at the sound of Magnolia’s voice and placed a hand over her heart.

“Don’t do that,” Charlotte scolded, as if she were her mother. Noticing that Charlotte had quickly locked her phone and shoved it inside her pants pocket, probably hoping that she didn’t have to answer Magnolia’s question made her pester Charlotte even more.

“So…” Magnolia smiled and awaited her answer, knowing that Charlotte had to have been texting a boy.  
“Rick,” she mumbled and opened her books.

The smile dropped from Magnolia’s face as she nodded and didn’t push the subject of Rick any further. All Magnolia knew about Rick was what Charlotte was willing to share. Rick was forty-three years old, lived in a fancy neighbourhood, drove a BMW, apparently had a job that paid the bills, his wife’s shopping habits, and his kids private school tuition. 

When Magnolia heard of the last few details, she fought Charlotte tooth and nail, telling her to end things. They had only been seeing each other for a few weeks, since the night they had met at The Goat, but Magnolia’s words were useless and convincing Charlotte was like talking to a wall, so she stopped fighting her on the issue all together. Instead Magnolia listened if Charlotte had something to share, but continued to keep her mouth shut. 

//\\\

It was the first time on a Wednesday that Magnolia was on her own cleaning the big house. It ended up working out better for Magnolia in the long run as that meant someone else took over two of the other houses that were usually on her list. May had sent her a text that morning saying that she was sick, but what their boss didn’t realize was that it wasn’t the flu; it was due to the fact that May had been drinking the night before.

There were no cars in the driveway and as always the front door was locked, which meant no one was home. After unloading the supplies right inside the door, she pulled out a pair of headphones and iPod and got down to business. Beginning with the main floor Magnolia started dusting tables and stands, windexing mirrors and counter tops, and finished off with the vacuum. The guest bedrooms were finished quickly and unlike the previous bedrooms, the master took some time. Clothes were strewn on the floor and the bed, a suitcase lay opened on the floor near the closet door, and the bathroom sink filled with hair. The room felt a bit hot and the top of the mirror was slightly fogged over, but Magnolia paid little attention to that as she started on the mess she had to deal with, grumbling to herself that this guy needed to learn to clean up after himself.  
Magnolia was a little sweaty by the time she finished the house, still leaving her with twenty minutes to spare, so like any other time, she grabbed her book from her bag, took a seat at the kitchen island, and began reading. For what felt like the hundredth time Magnolia was reading The Handmaid’s Tale. It was one of her favourite books and was the one she had chosen to read for her assignment that was due in two days. And this would be the first time looking at the assignment. Magnolia was on the third chapter when she popped open the tab on her can of Diet Coke and took a few sips and lowered the volume on her iPod to a minimum while she was reading and set a different playlist. The pages flew by quickly as she re-read every line that was already ingrained into her brain and soon enough Magnolia was already halfway through the middle of the book. She took notice of the time, seeing that she only had five minutes to spare before she needed to leave, when a hand knocked on the countertop of the island.

“Fucking Christ!” Magnolia gasped, dropping her page and sliding from her stool.

A hand was placed on her beating heart and took a breath to calm herself, hoping her heart rate would slow down. After pulling the headphones from her ears is when her heart rate was at a normal pace once again.

The man from the photos stood across from her on the other side of the island, wearing nothing but a towel. His arms were covered in tattoos and it was in that moment that Magnolia recognized him, or at least the tattoos on his arms. Of course he was the guy in the photos that were hung up around the house, but he was also the guy from The Goat, the one she had danced with, the one she had kissed.

“Uh hi?” Tyler said as if it were a question.  
“Hi,” Magnolia gulped, still not moving from when she had slid off the barstool.

Just like her interaction before a few weeks prior with the girl, Magnolia was afraid he was going to yell at her and then she would no loner have a job, but he didn’t. He just stood there and stared at her.

“I was just on my way out,” she mumbled unconvincingly, packing up her book, and taking a handle on the bucket of cleaning supplies.  
“Here, let me,” Tyler spoke as he reached for the bucket.

Magnolia pulled away slightly and waved off his offer, wondering if this guy would really walk out of his house wearing only a towel.

“You should go put some clothes on,” Magnolia let slip as she headed out into the foyer and just as she reached for the door handle he called out to her.  
“Do I know you from somewhere?”  
“Not sure,” she replied looking back and sneaking a quick look at his defined body.  
“Seriously though?” Tyler asked.

Magnolia hesitated before answering, fighting between telling the truth or a lie.

“We met at The Goat a couple weeks ago. We danced, maybe kissed,” she mumbled the last part, hoping he wouldn’t read too much into it.

“That’s right,” he nodded with a slight smirk “short shorts and vans.”  
“Sure, I guess,” Magnolia said, wondering if she could leave now that he had figured out this great mystery.  
“See you around,” Tyler called which led Magnolia to respond with a half-hearted wave and opened the door.

//\\\

It seemed that the week had flown by without any notice and so when Sunday rolled around, Magnolia was exhausted. The past couple days she had been finishing up assignments, writing papers, and studying for quizzes that she hadn’t bothered doing beforehand and decided to leave them to the last minute. She told herself the only way she was waking up Sunday morning was by her own accord; there wasn’t going to be an alarm, a car horn from outside was not going to wake her up. Instead, her phone did.  
After seeing that no, it was not an alarm going off that she hadn’t set, but Angelica calling. Begrudgingly Magnolia answered and internally groaned as Angelica asked her to work a “small” shift that day. Apparently it was no big deal because it was just one house, and at least she wouldn’t be by herself, May would be there to help.

Magnolia didn’t understand why the two girls had to go back and clean this place, as Magnolia had just cleaned it a few days prior, but once May unlocked the front door, she understood.

Closing the front door was a mistake, as the house needed fresh air badly. It smelt as if an animal had died and it’s body was currently decaying. There were cups covering the floor, the living room had toilet paper hanging from the chandeliers and the beams that spanned across the ceiling.

“This. Is. Disgusting.” May spoke up, sneering.

She was moving further into the house, seeing what they had to work with, when Magnolia yelled for her.

“STOP!” at Magnolia’s voice May stopped in her place and turned towards her.  
“Vomit,” Magnolia pointed and gagged slightly after seeing the puddle on the floor.

Her hand remained covering her mouth and nose for the most part, until she couldn’t take it any longer. After stepping out into the backyard, inhaling the fresh air, Magnolia until she took an unwilling step back into the house.

“I can’t do this,” Magnolia complained to May, who was busy chucking red solo cups into a trash bag.  
“Why don’t you see if there’s anything that needs to be done upstairs?” May offered, sending her on her way.

Magnolia hesitantly began peeking inside rooms until she reached the master. It was a disaster. The sheets on the bed were everywhere, looking as if they had been thrown off, tugged, and pulled at in every direction. And from where she stood, Magnolia could see the black G-string that sat in the middle of the bed, which she knew wasn’t Tyler’s. As she walked in further to assess the room Magnolia felt something squish underneath her shoe. Looking down was a mistake as she let out the loudest squeal of disgust and began kicking her leg out to try and get the used condom off her shoe.

“What? What? Everything okay?” May panted after running up the stairs when she heard Magnolia’s scream.  
“Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!” Magnolia screamed and aimed her foot at May.  
“Eww get it away from me!” May screamed back “just give me a minute.”

May ran out of the room and after rummaging through drawers in the kitchen, returned shortly with a pair of tongs in her hand.

“Got it!” she cheered and started waving the tongs around.

Magnolia ducked out of the way, not wanting to see what the contents of the condom actually looked like and kept her eyes on the floor as she moved further into the room.

“Does he know he owns a garbage?” Magnolia asked May, noticing two more used condoms lying on the floor.  
“Well at least one of us had a good time last night,” she grinned.  
“Give me the tongs,” Magnolia said, reaching her hand out for the kitchen utensil that if she were Tyler, she would throw that thing out.

The tongs still held tight to the first condom May had picked off Magnolia’s shoe and gathered the rest and headed into the bathroom. Instead of placing them in the garbage pail, she brought the pail downstairs to the kitchen and placed it on the island countertop, with the condoms alongside it. Magnolia met May back up stairs and together they clean each room, not wanting to deal with another surprise alone.  
It took the two girls two and a half hours to clean and disinfect the house and Magnolia wasn’t going to leave until she saw the owner walk through his front door.

“You coming?” May asked as she grabbed her bucket and headed for the door.  
“Not yet, I need to have a chat with this guy,” Magnolia replied and sat herself in her usual spot at the island, the garbage pail, tongs, and condoms in front of her.  
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” she questioned, coming back over to where Magnolia sat.  
“I-”

But before Magnolia could finish her sentence the door opened and more than one voice could be heard from the entryway.

“Looks like the maid was here,” the girls heard one of the voices say.  
“Good thing too, Jimmy’s vomit was starting to stink up the place,” another spoke.

The voices stopped as soon as they noticed Magnolia and May in the kitchen. With one last warning glare May begged her not to say a word, but Magnolia ignored her pleads with a wave of her hand.

“Boys! Great you’re here!” Magnolia exclaimed as she got off the stool and walked around the island.  
“So I know that maid’s are usually supposed to get the tips and not the homeowners, or at least that’s what happens in the movies,” she began “but I thought why not, right?”

Turning around, Magnolia grabbed the garbage pail along with the tongs, which were currently holding the condoms and turned back to face the men in front of her.

“Here’s your tip: when you finish, this is where they go,” she said dropping the condoms in the garbage “got it? I mean, I think it’s pretty simple; obviously some people have some trouble with it. But I think you of all people would understand practice makes perfect.”

She looked directly at Tyler glaring into his eyes and handed him the pail and tongs, and nodded to May that she was ready to leave. Tyler’s friends stood around him snickering as the two walked out the door, hoping that he got the message.

//\\\

It felt totally unnecessary that Magnolia and May had to return to Tyler’s house on Wednesday after just having been there Sunday. But there they were scrubbing sinks and toilets, vacuuming the floors and dusting the photos that hung on his walls.

Magnolia noticed the envelope once she sat down with her books; as it was addressed to herself and May.

“Look May, we got mail,” she laughed, curious as to what could possibly be in the envelope.  
After ripping open the envelope Magnolia pulled out a pair of lanyards that held cards on the bottom, which made them look pretty important. Along with the lanyards was a note. Once reading it, Magnolia realized it was more like an apology from Tyler and an explanation about the passes. They were an apology gift, something he felt he needed to make up to the girls for the way he had left his house this past weekend.

“We going to a hockey game May!” Magnolia cheered, waving the passes in her face   
laughing.

Tickets to a hockey game did not make what they had to endure okay, but it was a start.

 

\----------------

 

[Chapter Outfit](http://www.polyvore.com/tips/set?id=213356760)


	4. Déjà Vu

“You do know we’re going to a Dallas Stars game right?” May questioned as she looked over Magnolia’s wardrobe selection.  
“Just because he gave us tickets doesn’t mean I’m going to cheer for his team,” Magnolia replied and adjusted her Toronto Maple Leafs jersey “besides who am I if I don’t cheer for my own city?”  
“You live in Dallas now,” May deadpanned.  
“Correction, I go to school in Dallas,” she added “I don’t plan on living here my whole life. Just wanted a change of scenery.”

//\\\

People were staring.

More specifically, people were staring at Magnolia, or more so her jersey. The people surrounding her wore victory green and white, with the select few in the same colours Magnolia wore. As the two girls made it into the American Airlines Center, Magnolia headed immediately for the concession stand, buying some overpriced popcorn and a Diet Coke.

“Do you think he knows we’re here?” May asked as they headed to take their seats.  
“For all he knows, we sold the tickets,” she responded and stopped herself before realization hit “we could have sold the tickets. We could be drowning in hundreds of dollars right now. Why didn’t we sell these?”  
“Because we wanted to go to a hockey game?” May shrugged and led the way through the crowd to finally take their seats.

It was no sooner that the teams had come out for warm ups and the fame had started.   
Players were taking off chasing after the puck, body checking each other into the boards, and taking shot after shot on net. Either team had yet to score a goal and it was then well into the third period that the Stars had finally found the back of Toronto’s net. Magnolia sighed, hoping that in the last remaining minutes the Leaf’s would be able to make a comeback to tie up the game and redeem themselves, but when the buzzer sounded loud and clear, signaling that the game was over, Dallas had their victory.

“Should we go to the locker rooms?” May asked, breaking the silence for the first time in what felt like forever. She wasn’t a hockey fan herself, but May stayed quiet and focused throughout the game, cheering when Dallas scored, and cringing whenever a Toronto player had the puck.

“Do we have to?” Magnolia groaned as they followed the crowd out of the stands.  
“I at least want another drink first,” she mumbled to May and headed over to the concession stand, waiting in line to purchase another Diet Coke.  
“Happy to see I’m not the only one in this place that sticks out like a sore thumb,” Magnolia heard from behind her.

She looked behind her to take a look at the person that had spoken. Just like Magnolia, he was sporting a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, and she also took note that he was rather cute.

“Obviously we’ve got good taste,” she smiled and immediately he stuck out his hand and offered an introduction.  
“I’m Alex,” he said, while keeping their hands linked.  
“Magnolia,” she offered ”are your from Toronto?”  
“Born and raised, but I’m out here quite a bit for business. You?” Alex asked.

As they moved up in line, Magnolia explained how she was in Dallas for school, but that she was from Toronto as well. It was only a matter of time before she heard herself asking the cashier for another Diet Coke and handed him the five-dollar bill.

Once she had received her bottle of Diet Coke and the petty change, she turned and began to say goodbye to Alex.

“This is my last night in Dallas,” he started “but I’ll be back in a few weeks, did you maybe want to get dinner sometime?”  
“S-sure, that sounds good,” Magnolia answered, slightly flustered, not really thinking the question through before she gave her response.

As he walked up to the counter and placed his order for a bottle of water, he handed Magnolia his phone and she promptly enter her name and number into his contacts, before saying a quick goodbye.

“He was cute,” May smirked as they made their way through the crowd only to get lost and ask for directions to the locker rooms.  
There was quite a bit of commotion around the locker room as the two opened the door. They noticed different media outlets interviewing players on their win, whichever direction they looked something different was happening and with that they chose to wait outside just long enough to catch Tyler leaving to thank him for the tickets.  
The two stood off to the side chatting about nonsense when they noticed that players were beginning to leave the locker room.

“Are you wearing that just to spite me?” Tyler questioned when he caught sight of Magnolia.  
“Ninety percent because I actually like the team, ten percent just to spite you,” she laughed, but quickly ended when she earned an elbow in the gut from May.

And right on cue May began thanking Tyler for the tickets, as Magnolia looked in every which direction except Tyler’s.

“It was the least I could do, especially after leaving that mess for you two to clean,” Tyler said, blushing slightly as he remembered the last interaction the three had.  
“Well it was very generous,” May gave her megawatt smile and nudged another elbow into Magnolia’s gut “right Mag’s?”  
“Yeah, very generous,” she mumbled and continued to avoid making eye contact with Tyler.   
“Yooooo, the maids are here!” Magnolia and May heard from down the hallway, as they walked in the small groups direction.  
“Sorry you had to clean up after that,” one of them said as the others laughed, knowing the disaster the girls had to walk into that day.  
“Well thanks for the heads up,” Magnolia mumbled bitterly, as memories of puke and condoms filtered through her head.

A soft chuckle came from her right and suddenly stopped when Magnolia met his eyes.

“Jamie Benn,” he presented himself, extending his hand for her own.  
“Magnolia,” she replied.  
“We’re going out for a few drinks to celebrate,” Jamie stated “you two should tag along. Drinks on us, it’s the least we could do for leaving Seg’s house the way we did.”  
May immediately jumped at the offer, happily agreeing to the invitation, not really leaving Magnolia with much of a choice, as she could leave May with a bunch of hockey players she didn’t know.  
//\\\

Everyone had passed their first round of drinks hours ago, and needless to say, everything was buzzing. This place wasn’t exactly The Goat, it was more upper class and May and Magnolia were definitely not dressed appropriately, clad in jeans and t-shirt they had worn underneath their jerseys, but it really didn’t seem to matter. There had been plenty of chatting up the players, dancing, and taking shot after shot, and Magnolia had come to the point where she needed something other than alcohol.

“Diet Coke please,” she asked the bartender when he came round.  
“This is déjà vu,” Tyler said from beside her.  
“Not exactly, I didn’t get a shot of tequila this time,” she retorted.  
“Two tequila,” Tyler said, waving to the bartender before he left to get her Diet Coke.

Along with the Diet Coke, the bartender placed two shot glasses and filled them to the rim.

“Oh no,” Magnolia shook her head when Tyler slid one of the over in her direction “I’ve had enough alcohol to last me the next two months.”  
“What’s one more shot?” he asked, raising his brows “take the shot and then come and dance with me.”

She stood looking at Tyler for a good thirty seconds, wondering if he would back down, but instead he stood there keeping eye contact. With a sigh Magnolia topped the glass in his direction before slugging the liquid down. In a second she began chugging the glass of Diet Coke and placed the empty class back on the counter alongside the shot glass.  
“Okay,” she said more to herself than to Tyler, but that was enough for him. 

Taking Magnolia’s hand, he led her to the group of strangers on the dance floor. Just as Tyler had said at the bar, the evening had felt like déjà vu. They joined the crowd squeezing their way through to what felt like the middle, which left them little to no space between their bodies as they were pressed together. 

Tyler’s hands were on her hips in an instant as he easily shadowed every move Magnolia’s body made. Her hands made their way up his strong arms and linked around his neck, beckoning them closer together. Magnolia swayed her hips and everything about the two of them in that moment felt so right and without a second thought in her mind, Magnolia stood on the tips of her toes and inched her lips closer to Tyler’s until they touched.

“Déjà vu,” she mumbled against Tyler’s lips before pulling away.   
“Déjà vu,” he repeated, resting his forehead against Magnolia’s.

It was only seconds later that Tyler pressed his lips to Magnolia’s once again. Tonight his lips were perfect, they weren’t chapped, they were smooth against her own and they made Magnolia want more. A moan was fighting to escape as Tyler swiped his tongue against her lower lip and slowly slid into Magnolia’s mouth, tracing her own. 

Magnolia’s hands moved from the back of his neck to the collar of his button down shirt, trying to pull Tyler in even closer, wanting to feel his touch all over her. As Tyler moved his hands that were once on her hips, but now lingered on her backside left a slight squeeze left Magnolia ignoring any coherent thought she had. 

“So um,” she began, not wanting to be blunt with her neediness.   
“Let’s go,” Tyler mumbled against Magnolia’s lips, happy that she wanted the same thing he did.

Tyler tugged her hands free from his shirt collar and pulled Magnolia along until they reached the exit and got themselves into a cab. After sitting in silence for what felt like hours with sexual tension building between the two, their car finally pulled up to the all too familiar mansion. Tyler graciously paid for the cab as Magnolia stood and waited until he took the lead to unlock his front door and typed in the passcode to the alarm system.

“Did you want a tour?” Tyler joked as Magnolia kicked off her shoes and headed for the kitchen.  
“Nope, just some water,” she responded and pulled open the fridge door and stole a bottle of water.

After unscrewing the lid, she downed half the bottle before turning around and coming in contact with Tyler. He took the bottle and drank the rest, all the while maintaining eye contact. Magnolia gave a small smile as Tyler tossed the empty bottle behind him, not caring where it landed and waited for him to make the first move.

“The maids can clean that up,” he joked, inching closer to Magnolia.

Tyler moved slowly, hands taking hold of Magnolia’s waist and leaned in close enough to connect their lips. He to Magnolia’s bottom lip, biting down lightly and gave it a small tug. Without a seconds hesitation she parted her lips enough to allow her tongue to delve into Tyler’s mouth, earning a moan in return. His height overwhelmed Magnolia, but soon enough the two were on the same level as he slid his hands over her backside, stopping to cop a feel, and moved further to grip the backs of her thighs and telling her to ‘jump’. In a second Magnolia was settled on the islands countertop and her hands immediately unwrapped from the back of Tyler’s neck to the front of his chest as her lips took residence on the right side of his neck. Magnolia’s hands made light work of unbuttoning Tyler’s shirt and within a few moments the roles had been reversed. His lips were soft as they made their along Magnolia’s jaw and down her neck suckling until he found her sweet spot, earning a moan from her in response. 

There was a coolness as Tyler’s hands edged her shirt up, feeling his thumbs caress Magnolia’s skin, and without warning his lips pulled from their spot on her neck. She eyed Tyler as he stood in front of her, their faces inches apart, Magnolia’s legs wrapped around his waist, and her heart beating faster than normal. They sat and stared at one another in silence until Magnolia reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, leaving it lying on the counter.

“You know I don’t really do this,” Tyler said breaking the silence.  
‘’What, taking a girl home? I can leave,” Magnolia offered, but was hoping that he wouldn’t take the bait.  
“No, this is good,“ he smirked and lifted Magnolia off the counter. 

As Tyler walked up the stairs with Magnolia in his arms, their lips continued to move against one another as their tongues entwined, and walked into the all-familiar bedroom. 

“There aren’t any condoms on the floor right?” Magnolia asked in between kissing Tyler.   
‘’Not at the moment,“ he laughed and laid Magnolia on the bed, hovering over her frame. 

Tyler’s lips trailed from Magnolia’s lips, down her neck, and to her collarbone as his fingers worked to unlatch the button on her jeans. He slid them down her legs skillfully, and moved his hand to where Magnolia wanted to feel him the most. She didn’t want to seem too eager, but a desperate plea escaped Magnolia’s lips and her hips bucked at attention as his fingers tauntingly brushed against her.

“Are you just going to stare at me?” Magnolia questioned.

Without noticing where his hands were trailing, Tyler smirked as he felt Magnolia jolt against him as his index finger slid along the lace of her underwear. He kissed her lips while skimming his finger underneath the lace and moving to her trail along her slit, teasingly. Just as she was about to start in on Tyler teasing her, his finger finally dipped and curved up inside of her. 

“Ty-” Magnolia panted but cut off when Tyler added another finger to her heat. 

His fingers were thick and slick as he them along Magnolia’s walls, earning moan after moan from her. Everything about Tyler felt good; his lips on her skin, his fingers working her closer and closer to that high she was chasing, and when Magnolia finally hit her climax and her walls clenched around Tyler’s fingers, no words could express how good it felt. 

After regaining her composure, Magnolia slid her hands up and down Tyler’s chest and looped her fingers in the belt loops of his slacks, pulling him in closer. She smiled into the kiss Tyler placed on her lips as she toyed with the button on his slacks and made a move to undo the button and slide the zipper down. Just as Tyler had done to Magnolia, she teased along his briefs before reaching in and taking his shaft in her hand. His eyes closed at Magnolia’s touch and pushed his hips forward with each stroke of her hand. Heavy pants fell from Tyler’s lips and into Magnolia ear as her hand drove him closer to the edge.

“If you keep going,” he started to say, “I need you now.”  
“Condom,” Magnolia mumbled between kisses, continuing to stroke Tyler’s shaft.

Leaning over to his bedside table, Tyler plucked a condom from what looked to be a drawer full of them and asked Magnolia the question she had been prepared to answer back at the bar.

“Ready?”

//\\\

The clock on the nightstand told Magnolia that it was 7:00am and although she would normally dread being up at this current time, today on this Sunday morning, she was more than willing to hop out of Tyle3r’s bed and head back to her own. His body was limp beside her and as carefully as she could, Magnolia pulled the covers back and slowly moved until she was sitting upright. With every move she made, Magnolia turned to see if it had disturbed Tyler in any way. It wasn’t when she lifted herself up off the bed, or as she was tip-toeing her way to the bathroom, nor was it the sound of the toilet flushing that had woken Tyler up. It was as Magnolia was sliding her left leg into her jeans, that he began to sir. She groaned internally, hoping to have avoided this situation, but she reasoned with herself that this would have happened sometime in the near future as she was at his place every week. It was now or maybe next Wednesday, or maybe the Wednesday after that.

“You leaving?” Tyler grumbled and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.  
“Uh yeah, I’ve got to be at the library for 8:00,” she whispered, still feeling the need to be quiet.  
“Okay, let me just get some clothes on and I’ll drive you,” he offered and began shuffling the bed sheets around, trying to get out of them.  
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll just call a cab,” Magnolia waved off.

Although she would have loved the ride, simply because it wouldn’t have cost her anything, she wasn’t exactly ready to potentially sit in awkward silence.

“I’ll drive,” he stated firmly and rose from the bed.

Even though the two had bared themselves to one another the night before, Magnolia still felt a blush creep up her neck and felt the need the avert her eyes as Tyler walked around freely. 

“I’m just, um, gonna wait downstairs,” Magnolia mumbled and headed out of his bedroom.

//\\\

What felt like weeks, but were only days, had passed and school was kicking Magnolia’s ass like no other. It was midterm season and that meant studying along with the extra assignments her professors had no business handing out at this time in the semester. And most of the time Magnolia found her nose in more than one book at a time, just trying to keep up with the work.

It had only been a day after the game that Magnolia had received the first message from Alex. She was slightly surprised that he had actually followed up, and so days and multiple text messages later, told Magnolia that Alex was due back in Dallas in a few day’s time. 

The night of the hockey game had been on replay in Magnolia’s mind for the past few days and unfortunately it wasn’t because Alex made such a great first impression. It was more so the dancing with Tyler at the bar and what that led to afterwards at his house. Surprisingly the car ride home hadn’t been as awkward as Magnolia thought it would be, as they mostly discussed the music that was coming from the radio. And so when Wednesday rolled around and Tyler’s house was due for its weekly cleaning, Magnolia was still a bit hesitant and hoped that this time he wouldn’t be around. 

“You think he’s here?” May asked as we walked up to the front door.

Tyler’s car wasn’t parked in his driveway, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t hidden in the garage. 

“Not sure, hopefully not,” Magnolia murmured, but when May reached to insert the key, the girls found the door to already be unlocked.

“He’s here!” May whisper shouted for some reason and wiggled her brows at Magnolia.  
“Shut up,” she laughed and pushed May inside.

It had become routine now, ever since Tyler had his party, that the girls would stop inside the front door and survey the space before them, wanting to know what they were walking into. This time it wasn’t red solo cups and vomit, but articles of clothing. 

After sharing a look the two took a few more steps into the foyer and peeked their heads around the corners, wondering if they would be walking into anything the shouldn’t be.

“Well I’m pretty sure he has company,” May spoke, pointing over to an article of clothing that Magnolia soon recognized to be a G-string.  
“That’s not yours from the other night is it?” May joked.

Once those words had left May, Magnolia felt uncomfortable, almost like she was going to be sick. She felt gross being there when she knew for a fact that Tyler was gettin’ it on with some other girl and there Magnolia was, supposedly cleaning his house while he had sex.

“Should we come back later?” Magnolia asked, looking at May and hoping she’d have the answer Magnolia wanted to hear.  
“Let’s just start up the vacuum and be really loud and hopefully they’ll end their little party,” she suggested. 

With that Magnolia headed for the laundry room, took out the vacuum from the closet and tried to be as loud as she shut the door before heading out to the living room. She allowed May the honours of turning the vacuum on and tried not to laugh as she inched closer and closer to the stairs. 

If it were like any other time, Magnolia would normally head up stairs to start cleaning, but today the kitchen became her first priority after she picked up and folded the clothes that were strewn across the foyers floor. And it was only when she was scrubbing down the countertops that the man of the house came sauntering down the stairs in only a pair of shorts.

“Her clothes are on the table in the foyer,” she told him as he walked into the kitchen.

Magnolia watched in her peripheral vision as he stood at the counter, watching her as she sprayed and scrubbed at the granite.

“Hey, uh,” he began, but was stopped when his guest called out his name.  
“You better go,” Magnolia said and nodded to where she had so graciously placed the woman’s clothes.

It was only a matter of minutes before the couple made their way down the staircase and that was when Magnolia finally saw the type of women Tyler liked. This woman was older, maybe 34, she had long dark hair, boobs that would probably overflow in his hands, and a decent enough ass. Watching this woman walk down the stairs Magnolia had to stop to look down at herself and wonder how Tyler made it through the night with her when there was no comparison between the two women.

“Boo you two,” the woman smiled and laughed at May and I “I didn’t even get to finish.”  
“That’s too bad, I never had that issue,” Magnolia said under her breath, but it would seem that everyone heard her comment, as Tyler tried to hide his snort behind a cough.  
“Better luck next time,” May offered sarcastically.

Magnolia turned her back to laugh and no sooner heard the front door opening and closing behind the two as they left.

“That was…” May started but never finished.   
“Do you think we’ll get some more tickets because we had to endure that?” Magnolia asked, sending a grin her way.

 

\------------

[Chapter Outfit](http://www.polyvore.com/d%C3%A9j%C3%A0_vu/set?id=218116222)


	5. Boyfriends?

P A R T F I V E: Boyfriends?

The white envelop was sitting on the kitchen island when May and Magnolia entered the kitchen, and just like they had hoped, there tucked away were a pair of tickets to a game two weeks down the road and a slip of paper that had one word written on it.

“Well that’s crap,” May grumbled “this is right at the end of exam season. I won’t be able to go. You think if we ask he’d switch to another date?”

Magnolia laughed and gave her a look telling her she would not be asking to switch the tickets…because she wouldn’t want to seem ungrateful.

“Easy for you to say,” May retorted and went her separate way to start the job they came here for.

//\\\

When Magnolia wasn’t at school or work she was either reading a book (that was for school) or at The Goat drinking (mostly Diet Coke with a few shots here and there) away the thoughts of school and dancing the night away. But it was only a matter of time before she needed to start taking exam season seriously. As the dates got closer she found herself cooped up in the library with Charlotte with her nose in a book and takeout containers filling the spaces on the table that their books didn’t. Magnolia had become so focused on school for the past weeks that when she received a text message from Ale asking about their date, she drew a blank. The dates had become a blur and Magnolia was desperately lacking sleep. She heard the disappointment in his voice when she had asked to reschedule, making her feel worse, but she knew just the way to make it up to him.

“When’s your next trip to Dallas?” she asked quietly over the phone to Alex.  
“Not for a couple weeks,” he replied.  
“So does that mean you’d be free on the twelfth?” Magnolia asked, needing clarification.  
“My flight gets in that night,” he answered.  
“At what time?” she pestered.  
“Uhh I think around five,” he said.  
“Okay that works out perfectly,” Magnolia cheered “I’m taking you out okay?”  
“Shouldn’t I be the one taking you out?” he laughed.  
“Well I cancelled our last date so this one is on me,” she said before getting down to the details.

After making all the plans with Alex, Magnolia ended the call and looked up at the mansion in front of her. She had two more minutes until she needed to be inside scrubbing away.

By the looks of the house nothing had been touched since the last time we had been there.

“They’re on a road trip,” May mumbled as the two walked in and completed their survey.   
“Oh and you just happen to know this?” Magnolia smirked “I guess someone is keeping track.”   
“Well by the looks of how things have been going, I predict there to be more tickets in our future,” she grinned.   
“Well hopefully that doesn’t mean me stepping on other unmentionables,” Magnolia cringed.

//\\\

It always seems as if there is no light at the end of the tunnel when exam season rolls around, and it’s even worse as the days pass leaving you to wonder if you passed or failed. Magnolia was practically finished her exams all that was left was a take-home essay she needed to complete and she would be free for winter break.

A week after May and Magnolia had gotten the second pair of tickets, Magnolia found another envelop, but this time it was only addressed to her. It held a slip of paper with a bunch of numbers and letters mixed together and below it read wifi password. Although she felt like Tyler could never truly make up for what he put her through with the vomit and condoms, she very much appreciated the gesture, which also told her that he was okay with her staying that extra half hour to get some school work done. Or at least that was her assumption, but Magnolia found a week later that she was indeed correct.

“You don’t have to run off,” Tyler reiterated as Magnolia began packing her things away. “I mean if you have to be somewhere else that’s fine, but you don’t have to rush outta here.”

Magnolia looked up at him as she stood with her notebook in hand ready to put it in her backpack, but surprising even herself, she placed it back on the countertop. Slowly taking her seat once again, just waiting for him to tell her to leave, but that didn’t happen. Instead he asked what she was working on.

“English essay,” she replied while typing a sentence into the word doc that had been blank for the majority of the half hour.   
“What are you going to school for?” Tyler questioned, looking over her shoulder like an overprotective parent would do to their child, needing to know what was on the screen.   
“English, I want to be an editor,” Magnolia explained.   
“Cool,” he nodded and headed to the fridge “want anything to drink?”  
“I’m all set,” she replied holding up the can of Diet Coke and focusing back on the screen.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there for going back and forth between her book and the keyboard before Tyler appeared once again. Magnolia knew she had probably overstayed her welcome and that she should have left when he arrived home, but it was nice to work in a different place where no one could bother her. 

“I’m not sure if you have plans tonight, or how long you’re planning on staying, but I’m ordering a pizza did you want some?” Tyler asked.   
“Umm, no you don’t have to worry about it, I should be getting home anyway,” she declined the offer.  
“It’s no problem, honestly,” he said “what do you like on your pizza?”  
“Extra cheese, pepperoni, and pineapple please,” Magnolia listed, giving in to his invitation. 

He nodded and pulled out his phone and made the call to place our order. Magnolia was a ways into her essay, after researching and pulling quotes to support the thesis, she was up five pages and that was only based off of the first point. Her head was beginning to turn to mush as the time went on before she finally gave in, saved her work, and closed all her books and laptop. 

Magnolia looked around after she had packed up her bag and saw Tyler lounging on the couch, scrolling through his phone. 

“Finished for the night?” he asked when he saw her walk over to the couch and took a seat at the end by his feet.  
“I honestly can’t write another word or I think my head will explode,” she sighed and rested her head back against the couch.   
“Glad I’m not you,” he laughed “how about a movie?”  
“I think I can handle that,” she nodded. 

Tyler led the way to his media room where a projector screen took up half the wall and the couch taking up most of the room. The two plopped themselves down, not bothering to get comfortable just yet, as they were still waiting for the pizza to arrive, but deciding to pick out a movie beforehand. 

“Just no scary movies,” Magnolia stated, “I still have to walk to my car and I’d prefer not having to sleep with a knife under my pillow for the next week.”  
“Okay, no scary movies,” he laughed and scrolled through the options on Netflix. “What about Talladega Nights?”  
“Dude Will Ferrell is stupid. No, next,” she waved off.  
“You’re breaking my heart over here,” he feinted hurt “so what kind of movies do you like then?”  
“Action, comedy, rom com,” she answered, “I’m very versatile.”

Tyler laughed when Magnolia said that and in response received “for some reason I highly doubt that.” After a bit more scrolling through our options he landed on Star Wars.

“Never seen it,” Magnolia shrugged and received a look ”what? I think I’ve seen like an old one when I was like six, but that was because of my cousins and I don’t remember anything about it.”

Apparently there was no question and she couldn’t veto Tyler’s decision, because he had selected the movie and they were now watching Star Wars. 

It took another five minutes until the pizza arrived and Tyler and Magnolia both headed for the door. The delivery guy handed Magnolia off two large boxes as Tyler dug through his wallet, and coming up with the right amount. Instead of waiting she walked back into the kitchen and went looking through his cabinets for plates, pulling out two and started the search for paper towels or napkins – if he owned such a thing.

“Do you own napkins?” she asked as she bent over looking through another drawer.   
“First drawer on the right on the island,” he replied and Magnolia immediately found what she had been looking for.

She went around to stand beside Tyler and looked down at the pizzas and her mouth gaped open and salivated at the smell. They were huge and probably could have lasted her days after eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

“You do realize that I will most likely only have two slices of this right?” she looked down once again at the pizza that had definitely made good on the extra cheese.   
“Well you better get to eating it because I can’t, allergic to pineapple” he explained and closed the lid on his pizza box before closing my own and stacking it on top. “Drink?”  
“Do you have milk?” I asked and received a funny look from him.   
“Milk?” he questioned.  
“Yes, have you ever heard of it? I like 2%, you got that?” she asked, before giving up and snooping through his fridge.

Magnolia found the carton and unscrewed the lid and leaned in getting a sniff of the milk.  
“I don’t know how long you’ve had this for,” she explained when she caught Tyler giving her another look “for all I know it could be bad. I’m not a fan of having chunks in my milk.”  
“I just bought it yesterday,” he informed her, so she went to grab a glass from his top cupboard and poured the milk. “Did you want some?” she asked.  
“Just grab me a bottle of water please,” he said.

Magnolia did as he asked and once they had everything they thought they’d needed at the moment, Tyler led the way back to the media room to watch Star Wars. Once the two were both comfortable with their slices of pizza and drinks, Tyler hit play and the movie had started. They watched in silence for the first half hour and then Magnolia became bored, Tyler on the other hand looked very immersed as he smacked on what had to be his sixth slice of pizza. 

“So what’s your all-time favourite movie?” Magnolia asked as an action scene was taking place on screen.  
“You do realize we’re in the middle of watching one right now?” he said between bites of pizza.  
“I know, but I’m bored,” she shrugged.   
“Do you not like watching movies?” Tyler questioned.  
“The good ones yeah,” she smiled “So what’s your all-time favourite movie?”  
“Don’t have one,” he mumbled, “what’s yours?”  
“Uh I’m going to have to go with The Sound of Music, it’s a classic,” Magnolia stated “Favourite TV show?”

It soon became clear to Tyler that he wasn’t really going to be able to pay attention to the movie that was playing in front of him as all Magnolia did was talk and ask questions. 

“So you’re a Leafs fan?” he asked, remembering the jersey she wore weeks ago.  
“Of course, you can’t not live in Toronto and not be a Leafs fan,” she scoffed “that would just be a disgrace.”  
“You’re from Toronto?” his voice surprised.

Technically Magnolia lived just outside Toronto, her parents were commuters, choosing to drive into the city every morning and raise their family in the suburbs. 

“I thought from your name you were from down south somewhere,” he laughed “I mean you don’t sound it, but…”   
“Nope, my mom is just a big fan of the movie Steel Magnolias,” she grinned and pointed to the screen “the movie’s over.”

She looked to see the end credits scrolling on the screen and decided that she had stayed long enough.

“I should get going,” Magnolia said and stood from her spot and stretched. 

As she reached for the pizza boxes, Tyler made a grab for the plates and cups and followed as he headed back downstairs to the kitchen.

“Recycling?” Magnolia asked.  
“Don’t worry about it,” he waved off “I’ve got it.”  
“You sure?” she asked once more.  
“Yes,” he replied and began nudging her towards the door and placed her pizza box in her hands. Magnolia took the hint and slung her backpack on her shoulder and slipped her feet into her shoes, before thanking him once again for the pizza.

“See you at the game Friday?” he called as she opened the door to her car.  
“Yep,” Magnolia smiled and waved goodbye.

//\\\

“ I think we should go out tonight,” Charlotte stated from beside Magnolia as they took their seats for their lecture.  
“Can’t I’ve got a date tonight,” Magnolia whispered as their professor began his powerpoint.   
“I really want you to meet Rick, he’s so great,” Charlotte sighed dreamily.   
“Another time,” she waved off, hoping that that time wouldn’t be anytime soon.

Magnolia hadn’t been on a date in a long time and so as the time for her to meet up with Alex came closer and closer, her nerves had gone haywire. 

“Magnolia!” she heard from behind her.

She waved as Alex continued to make his way over to her and leaned in for a hug. He then placed his hand on her lower back and led the two down the street to Kenichi. 

“Ever been here before?” Alex asked as they entered the restaurant.  
“Uh nope, I am a student in debt, I only go out once in a blue moon,” Magnolia smiled “so this place better be good.”

Technically that was a lie, but Magnolia truly felt like The Goat didn’t count, which alongside Charlotte, frequented most weekends. The food nor drinks weren’t super pricey, but they also lacked the quality of taste. 

They were seated immediately and without hesitation the conversation flowed. Alex spoke of his work and the constant flight back and forth between Toronto and Dallas, where he grew up, and his five-year plan. In return, Magnolia spoke of school, how she missed Toronto, but how she was happy that she’d miss the winter storms that she was so accustomed to, and told him where she thought she’d want to be in five years time. 

“So how’d you get these tickets anyway?” Alex asked as they took our seats “how much do I owe you?”  
“Nothing,” Magnolia smiled “they were free.”  
“How’d you score that?” he questioned.  
“I kinda clean one of the players homes and sometimes what we walk into isn’t that great,” she explained “so I think I’m going to be going to most home games.”  
“The perks!” he laughed.  
“Yeah,” she muttered, “you don’t even want to know.” 

The game had come and gone, Alex had really got into it, cheering on the Stars and booing the New Jersey Devils when they scored tying the game up. In the end the Stars became victorious in overtime, leaving the crowd cheering and smiles on the faces of the players. 

“Now we don’t have to, but if you wanted to we can go to the locker room,” Magnolia told Alex and was hoping that he’d decline the offer. She should have known after how enthused he was during the game that he would want to meet some of the players.

And so on they went, flashing their passes and once again swerving through the hustle and bustle the media created, when halfway through the crowd Magnolia heard her name being called. She couldn’t see a thing, everyone in the room were all above the six foot mark, with her head just coming level to their chests. After looking around trying to find where the voice was coming from she saw a pair of arms waving in the air; Tyler. Magnolia reached behind her making sure Alex was still there and grabbed onto his hand as they squeezed through the crowd until they found a little clearing in which Tyler and Jamie stood together. 

“Wow, you guys start winning and that’s when people start showing up huh?” Magnolia teased the two.  
“That’s why they pay us the big bucks Molly,” Jamie joked and at the same time Tyler asked where May was.  
“Molly?” she questioned, “I’m not sure who that is and May couldn’t make it, had an exam.”  
“Molly Maids?” he retorted and realization sunk in.  
“Good one,” she replied sarcastically and rolled my eyes.

It was the slight pull of her hand that brought Magnolia back to gather herself and introduce Alex to the two men in front of her.

“Oh I didn’t think you had a boyfriend,” Jamie said hesitantly, looking between Tyler and Magnolia.  
“He’s um, we’re not,” she tried to say.  
“It’s our first date,” Alex spoke up “huge fan by the way!”  
“He’s lying, he likes the Leafs,” Magnolia forced a smile, trying to relieve the tension between the group, or maybe that was just her. 

It was only seconds later that the two were invited out for a round of victory drinks.

“Unfortunately I’ve got an early meeting tomorrow morning,” Alex replied, turning down the offer and surprisingly encouraged Magnolia to go. “It’s fine, we’re still on for brunch tomorrow right?”  
“Yeah, sure,” she responded.   
“Okay well,” he said before leaning in a placing a kiss on her left cheek and wrapping his arms around her waist. “See you tomorrow.”

After watching Alex leave the locker room, Magnolia turned and was faced with Jamie making kissing noises and scrunching his lips together. Tyler on the other hand stood in front of her with a blank expression on his face, looking about ready to hit the bar. 

//\\\

“Do you believe in love at first sight?” Jamie yelled across the table.

The bar the team was currently occupying was busy, with music blasting through speakers and voices yelling to one another, trying to be heard over the music and other people. Tables had been pushed together so everyone could take a seat and celebrate their win. Magnolia sat near the end with Tyler and Jamie; they were the only two she knew on the team. Tyler’s arm was slung across the back of the chair and a look of disinterest currently covered his face as Jamie yelled to them about nonsense. 

“I’m not sure,” Magnolia shrugged “I think it’d be different if it’s happened to me, but it hasn’t, so currently my answer is no.”  
“Harsh,” Jamie spoke settling back into his chair.  
“Do you think -” he started again, but stopped when she took the drink from his hand.  
“You are officially cut off,” she stated and swigged back the rest of his scotch. 

Magnolia winced at the taste and chased it down with the glass of Diet Coke in front of me. 

“I think I’m going to head out,” she said to no one in particular as she shoved her jacket back on and slipped the strap of her purse over her shoulder.  
“Right behind you,” Tyler said before finishing off his drink and climbing off the barstool. 

Magnolia followed Tyler as he carved the pathway to the front door. He was tall so it was easy to follow behind as people moved out of the way for him and once they reached the fresh air she stood at the curb and looked for a taxi. 

“What’re you doing?” Tyler asked from behind.  
“Waiting for a cab to show up, I left my car at the AAC,” she clarified.  
“C’mon I’ll take ya there,” he nodded over to where he parked his own.

Not bothering to put up a fight, Magnolia climbed into the jeep and we took off. 

“Is there a McDonald’s around here?” she asked Tyler, turning the music down and keeping her eyes peeled for a golden arches sign.  
“Hungry?” he joked.  
“Starving,” she groaned.   
“I think there’s one that way,” he pointed as they turned in the opposite direction.

Just as Tyler pulled up to the parking garage where Magnolia had left her car, she noticed the doors had been closed and the surrounding area was quiet, but realized it was one o’clock in the morning and well past two hours after the game, which meant the garage was closed.

“I need my car,” Magnolia whispered to herself, on the verge of tears.  
“Don’t worry about it,” Tyler assured.  
“It could get towed!” she cried out, not feeling as relaxed as Tyler at the current moment.  
“I’ll make sure it’s not,” he reasoned “I’ll drop you off tonight and pick you up first thing tomorrow morning.”  
“Fine,” Magnolia pouted, but knew that was the only thing she could do at the moment.

Magnolia was most definitely acting like a child, but she somehow didn’t care; she was hungry, her car was locked away, and she just wanted to go home and watch a movie before falling asleep. Although her mood wasn’t the best, it lightened slightly whenever Tyler pulled into a plaza that held a McDonalds. 

“What do you want?” Tyler asked as he pulled through to the drive thru. 

Without hesitation, Magnolia provided her usual order, not that she was a regular at Rotten Ronnie’s, not at all…and waited as he ordered food for himself. She tried desperately to hand over money, but of course Tyler wouldn’t let that happen. Instead she gave up the fight and stuffed the twenty dollar bill into the cup holder, hoping Tyler wouldn’t notice until she left. 

The drive the rest of the way back to Magnolia’s was quiet except for the times she told him to turn.

“I’ll walk you up,” he insisted. 

It wasn’t like Magnolia, but as she unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the cup of Diet Coke, she asked Tyler if he wanted to stay for a bit and watch a movie with her. The walk to her door was quiet as well and when she reached for her keys to unlock the door, Magnolia nodded for Tyler to take the first step in. 

Placing her bags on the kitchen countertop, Magnolia begun to dig through the paper bag until its contents were laid out in front of her. She piled whatever she could into her hands and took it to her small living room and placed it all on the coffee table.

“I’m going to go change, did you want a pair of sweats or anything?” she asked before heading down the hall and into her bedroom.  
“I really don’t think I’d fit into women’s sweatpants,” he called from the living room.

Magnolia rolled her eyes and dug through her drawers until she found what she was looking for, for both herself and Tyler. She changed out of the clothes she felt like she had been wearing for days and walked out to where Tyler was seated, tossing a pair of black sweatpants and a Toronto Maple Leafs t-shirt his way. Magnolia watched as his eyes travelled to the articles of clothing and back to her when he saw the logo on the t-shirt. 

“So would this be a bad time to ask for a picture?” she joked and settled herself on the couch.

Instead of receiving a response, Tyler lifted himself off the couch and asked for the direction of the bathroom. As Magnolia waited on Tyler she powered on her TV and Netflix, and took the liberty of selecting a movie on their behalf. 

Tyler approached the couch a minute later and grabbed for his meal as he nestled into the couch.

“What movie?” he mumbled around bites of his cheeseburger.  
“13 Hours,” Magnolia replied, still staring at the screen “John Krasinski is my future husband.”  
“He’s married,” Tyler deadpanned.  
“Plenty of people get divorced these days,” she stated and smiled as she continued keeping her eyes on the screen and narrowly missing when she went to put food in her mouth. 

They were well into the movie when Magnolia felt eyes on her and she bit the bullet and looked over to see what Tyler was staring at. She was frozen as he moved closer and pressed his lips against her own, but only took a moment for a response to generate as her lips then moved with his.   
Tyler’s hands rested against her cheeks, wanting Magnolia closer, and so they slowly dragged down to her neck and side, resting on her waist. He pulled Magnolia closer and closer until she straddled his lap. Confusion crossed her mind as Tyler’s lips made light work of her neck, she wasn’t sure what had spurred the position they were currently in, but as Tyler found her sweet spot just below Magnolia’s ear, the confusion was replaced with want and need. As her hips moved, causing friction between the two Tyler was left with just enough breath to ask.

“Bedroom?”

//\\\

Magnolia was woken by the sound of her phone. It was as if the noise became louder and louder the more she just wanted to bury herself deeper into her mattress. But the noise didn’t stop, it kept ringing until she answered.

“Hey Magnolia, it’s Alex,” the voice said on the other line.  
“Alex?” she replied groggily and wondered why he’d be calling, but when she looked at the clock on her nightstand she realized that she was supposed to be meeting him for brunch in ten minutes.  
“Yeah, I just called to say that my meeting is running a bit late and was hoping we could reschedule?”   
“Um yeah, no worries that’s fine,” she silently prayed to god “maybe lunch tomorrow before you leave?”  
“Thanks for understanding,” he said and apologized once again “lunch sounds great.”

Magnolia hung up and sighed in relief, but guilt crept in as she dropped her phone on the nightstand and fell back into her pillow. She had just got off the phone with a great guy, who had absolutely everything going for him, while she lay naked in her bed next to Tyler Seguin.

“Boyfriend?” Tyler mumbled, his voice groggy like Magnolia’s had been.  
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she reiterated, more for herself than for him.  
“Good,” he said as his hand snaked across her back, bringing Magnolia closer to where his lips could meet her own.

 

\--------------

 

[Chapter Outfit](http://www.polyvore.com/boyfriends/set?id=194257628)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends....
> 
> SO THAT HAPPENED........in this chapter you definitely saw more of Mag's and Tyler as they got to know each other, but Alex is also in the picture now and the struggle is real!!
> 
> Please let me know what you're thoughts, if you're liking the story, how you think things might play out with either Tyler or Alex, but more importantly if you like Diet Coke...there seems to be quite a bit of it mentioned in here!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading xx
> 
> \- Brooke


	6. I Don't Want To Be

“I just feel like,” Charlotte started in right as Magnolia went to take her seat at their unofficial lunch spot in the cafeteria.

 

All Charlotte did these days besides talk about homework, was Rick. And every single time he was the topic of discussion, Magnolia chose to tune her out and added hmm’s and ahh’s whenever she thought applicable. She was still upset that Charlotte was seeing a man who had committed himself enough to a woman to call her his wife, and with her had three kids, the oldest being nine years her senior.

 

“You just need to meet him, come to dinner with us tomorrow night?” Charlotte begged “I think you two would get along so well.”

 

It seemed apparent to Magnolia that she wasn’t giving Charlotte enough hints that she did not want to go to dinner with the two “love birds”, but sighed and told herself that she only had to do it just this once then she’d be off the hook.

 

“Fine,” Magnolia sighed and finished off her lunch before packing up and getting ready to leave to head off to work.

 

//\\\

 

The girls heard the voices enter the house as they were packing up in the kitchen, chatting about something that had happened at practice, but Magnolia was too invested in her conversation to pay any attention as the voices appeared before them.

 

“She wants me, Magnolia Lynne, to go to dinner with her and her cheating-lying-ass-married boyfriend,” she vented “like who does that? And I can’t go alone, I’m going to die!”

“Well I guess since they’re done it’s gossip time,” they heard Jamie mumbled to Tyler.   

“Hey Jamie, Magnolia needs a favour,” May smirked his way “are you free tomorrow night for dinner? She needs a knight in shining armour.”

 

Magnolia sent a glare May’s way, but thought Jamie would be better than being the awkward third wheel, and so she accepted the idea.

 

“Um, I don’t want to overstep,” he stuttered looking at me then taking a glance at Tyler “and I’ll have to clear it with my girlfriend.”

 

That was a lie Jamie needed to tell, he knew for a fact that his girlfriend wouldn’t be bothered, but it gave him an out and gave Tyler the opportunity to jump in.

 

“What about you Tyler?” May questioned eagerly, deciding that Jamie was a lost cause.

“Uh yeah sure,” Tyler played it off like it was no big deal “just let me know the details.”

“There that’s all settled!” May clapped, happy she had gotten something accomplished that day, that had nothing to do with work.

“By the way, just wanting to know if I get a make up ticket to another game since I couldn’t go and this one gave it to someone else,” May nodded in Magnolia’s direction.

The boys laughed and said that they could figure something out and that Tyler would let Magnolia know the next night.  

 

“I can’t believe you,” Magnolia muttered as the two of them loaded the supplies into May’s car before parting ways.

 

May shrugged.

 

//\\\

 

_On my way._

 

Magnolia dreaded what she was putting not only herself, but Tyler through tonight, and was seriously debating replying to his text telling him to turn around and go back home, that his presence wasn’t needed. Magnolia couldn’t do that; she was selfish and needed someone other than the lovesick Charlotte to get through the night.

 

_Here._

 

Magnolia told him to dress nice; no jeans or t-shirt. She wanted him to be dressed as if it were game day, sans the tie. She told him not to bother coming to her door, that she’d meet him at his car. She wished she’d told him to go home.

 

Although Tyler didn’t step foot in Magnolia’s apartment building, he stood outside his car waiting for her to walk through the doors and when she did, he felt his breath catch in his throat.

 

“Thanks for doing this,” Magnolia uttered as she closed the distance between herself and Tyler.

“Pleasures all mine,” he smiled and opened the car door for her.

“Don’t speak too soon,” she grumbled and buckled herself in.  

 

Tyler kept the conversation flowing throughout the drive to the restaurant, knowing that Magnolia needed a distraction from whatever she was feeling, and listening to Tyler ramble on about struggling to find gifts for his sisters for Christmas, hoping Magnolia had some ideas she’d be willing to share. Magnolia just mumbled that she’d look into it and continued being the best listener anyone could ever want.

 

When Magnolia and Tyler stepped foot into the restaurant, Magnolia silently cursed, thinking that Tyler should have opted for the tie after all, and she a ball gown.

 

She knew the angle this Rick guy was trying to work; he wanted to impress Charlotte’s friend in hopes that she’d forget the small fact that he was indeed married and cheating on his wife. Unbeknownst to him, it was not going to work. Although Magnolia promised Charlotte that she’d at least try to make an effort, she just couldn’t.  

 

"This is one of my closest friends Magnolia," Charlotte introduced Magnolia to Rick as the two reached the table the happy couple were currently occupying.

“This is -” Magnolia began to say before being cut off by Rick.

“Tyler Seguin, the pleasure is all mine,” he said, grasping Tyler’s hand enthusiastically.

 

Expensive wine was purchased for the table, though Magnolia opted out and ordered her usual drink of choice. As they four perused the menu, Magnolia couldn’t help but stare wide eyed at the price of each meal, noticing that a salad was still thirty dollars. Tyler noticed Magnolia’s face jerk as she glanced at each item and so he nudged her side gently.

 

“I’ve got it,” he whispered, “get whatever you want.”

 

When the waiter arrived to take everyone’s order, she gulped down the guilt that Tyler was paying for her meal and ordered the overpriced salad, while the others opted for steaks and seafood.   

 

Everything went agonizingly slow, our meals took forever to come and the whole time the conversation revolved around Tyler and hockey. When it was time for the bill to come, Magnolia had no fight left in her when Tyler paid for her meal.

 

“Is the interview over now?” Magnolia asked when Tyler and herself were situated in his car and on the way to drop Magnolia off.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Tyler protested.

“That’s cause you were talking about yourself the whole time!” she opposed “Did you like him?”

“He wasn’t awful,” he shrugged.

“Well you can’t like him,” Magnolia stated firmly “from this moment on we are anti-Rick, understand?”

 

Tyler didn’t even bother asking any questions, but nodded along with whatever Magnolia said, just wanting to appease her.

 

“Wanna come in?” Magnolia asked as they reached her building “I’ve got Ben & Jerry’s.”

“You know I can’t keep eating shit like that,” Tyler argued, but nonetheless he found himself curled up with Magnolia on her couch, each with a spoon, watching some utterly ridiculous reality TV show that he had never heard of.

 

//\\\

 

The game like the past few had not gone in the stars favour, irking each player more and more each night they went scoreless.

 

“We still going out or what?” one of the rookies asked the group as they were changing out of their gear.

 

The general consensus was a yes; they figured they needed to drown their sorrows in booze and women and they couldn’t not celebrate Hamhius’ birthday.

 

“Your girl coming out Segs?” Jamie asked, walking in from the showers.

“I don’t have a girl,” he mumbled as he started tying the laces of his shoes.

 

The men around Tyler laughed and made comments about Magnolia, who came to practically every home game and who he had been spending nearly all his free time with when he wasn’t working and she wasn’t in school. Tyler could take being the brunt of a joke, but that’s not to say he liked it one bit, and with the loss of tonight’s game, the boys joking about him and Magnolia left Tyler in a mood.

 

Magnolia and May were waiting patiently outside the locker room tonight, with the other women and the select few that had children. She noticed right when a group came out that they were upset with the game they played and as Magnolia racked her brain, trying to come up with something to say to Tyler other than ‘sorry that you lost’ or ‘you’ll win the next one’, the girls were already invited for drinks and the boys headed towards the exit.

 

Getting drinks with the guys had been just like any other time for May and Magnolia, only for the exception that this time Tyler sat at the opposite end of the table than Magnolia. He was sending a message to his teammates that even though he had been spending plenty of time with the girl he hadn’t yet taken his eyes off of, they were nothing and he was free to do whatever and whomever he liked.        

 

“Anyone want another drink?” Tyler asked, interrupting the conversation and taking their orders before heading to the bar.

 

As Tyler made his way to the bar, Magnolia’s eyes trailed after him, and tried to work up the courage to go up and talk to him. It had been clear at the arena that he was upset about something, and the only thing she could think of was the crappy game they had just played. But after they had all taken their seats Magnolia wondered if there was something else bothering him, any other time Tyler would be the first one to save a seat for her beside him and tonight she felt like he was miles away, trying to avoid her.

 

“Just go talk to him,” May nudged her and nodded towards Tyler.

 

Magnolia took May’s words and lifted herself from her chair and started walking to where Tyler stood at the bar. She stopped in her tracks when she saw another woman sidle up beside him and watched as they started chatting, grins on both of their faces. Magnolia turned around, walking back to the table and took her seat, keeping quiet the rest of the night as she watched Tyler and the brunette hit it off and end up driving off into the night with one another.

 

It only took Magnolia one guess as to how their night ended.

 

//\\\

 

School was officially finished for the semester, but that didn’t mean anything to Magnolia. She was still in Dallas picking up more shifts before she planned on heading home for the Christmas break. It had been a few weeks since she had last seen or spoken to Tyler; the amount of away games had increased, leaving his house empty, and Magnolia didn’t bother sticking around after they had finished cleaning his house.

 

“Hey, haven’t seen you in a while,” Tyler said as he walked into his kitchen, seeing Magnolia packing up the cleaning supplies.

“Yeah,” she huffed, trying to get the last bottle of vim squeezed into the bucket.

 

Tyler tried with the conversation, but with every reply Magnolia was dry and uninterested.

 

“You haven’t been answering my texts, is everything alright?” he asked, inching closer to where Magnolia stood.

“Been busy,” she shrugged, finally situating the vim bottle, and lifting the bucket off the counter, prepared to leave.

“Woah, what’s the rush?” Tyler questioned, reaching forward to take the bucket from Magnolia’s hands, but her grip tightened and refused to let go. “What’s wrong?” he probed, moving his hand from the bucket that Magnolia refused to let go of, up to her left elbow, hoping to keep her in place instead of walking away.

“Nothing, I have to go,” she said, pulling away from Tyler and walking towards the front door.

“Well if we don’t talk until then, I hope you have a good Christmas,” Tyler said sincerely, making Magnolia feel slightly guilty for being so dry.

“You too,” she said before closing the door behind her.

 

Magnolia wasn’t sure her actions were justified because she wasn’t anything to Tyler. At the very least they were friends, that had a few past sexual encounters, but other than that, Magnolia realized she probably meant very little to Tyler in the grand scheme of things. She wasn’t the one he called when he had exciting news, or when he was missing his family. She was the one that cleaned his house, the one that he gave tickets to because he had screwed up and needed to apologize. She was the one he slept with because she was around.

 

Magnolia came to the conclusion that she was a convenience for Tyler, she never had to fight others to get in his pants at bars, he was either hers for the night or he’d find someone else.

 

Magnolia didn’t want to be a convenience anymore.     

 

\-------------------------

 

[Chapter Outfit](https://www.polyvore.com/untitled_417/set?id=208558929)  
  
So this is probably shorter than the previous chapters, but I decided to leave out what's coming next and add it to the next chapter.  
  
Let me know your thoughts, does anyone have any ideas as to where this will lead Tyler and Magnolia? (cause I don't...jks I do)  
  
Thank you all for reading and I promise I will try to update more often!!   
  
\- Brooke        

 


	7. Another Christmas Story

Magnolia was trapped. 

 

She wasn’t trapped in the sense that she needed to get out of a room, but more so in the sense of she needed to get out of the country. Magnolia needed to go home, but in her current state nothing Magnolia wanted or needed was happening. She was trapped in the country, no flights were currently heading to Toronto due to inclement weather conditions and the last flight that had just come from her city was not flying back. It was soon that Magnolia came to the realization that she was going to miss Christmas with her family. 

 

A frown had occupied her face for the past four hours as she sat in the airport, hoping by some slim chance someone would announce over the intercom that her flight was ready to board, but that never happened. Magnolia grumbled as she walked out with the last flight that had just landed from Toronto. She watched as the passengers greeted their loved ones and friends, but kept her head down while she sulked her way to her car. 

 

“Magnolia?” she heard from behind her. 

 

With a slight lift of her head she turned to see who had called out her name and saw the familiar face of none other than Tyler. There was a small group mainly made up of women around him, who Magnolia assumed, taking in their resemblance were his family.

 

“Hey Ty,” she offered a smile that didn’t necessarily hold true to her mood.

“I thought you were going home for Christmas?” he questioned, and at that Magnolia felt tears brim her eyes at the thought of missing Christmas.

 

She cleared her throat before explaining that flights to Toronto were cancelled until further notice, and that by the time flights were resumed she’d have to head back to Dallas for school anyways.

 

“Come over for Christmas,” Tyler blurted out, leaving Magnolia stunned for words for a few seconds.

“I don’t want to intrude,” she mumbled “it looks like you’ve got a full house already. I’ll be fine on my own, don’t worry.”

“I’m not letting you spend Christmas alone,” he responded defiantly “just come, please? Don’t make me drive to your place and drag you out of your apartment, because I will.”

 

Magnolia mulled the thought of spending Christmas with Tyler’s family over. She pictured all the awkward conversations she’d have to endure, but the look on Tyler’s face was as serious as his threat and so she gave in, asking what she could bring.   

 

“Just yourself,” he smiled and started his trek back to his car where his family stood “I’ll text you!”

 

//\\\

 

Standing empty handed in front of Tyler’s door waiting for him to open and invite her in, felt wrong. The two had fought back and forth through text about the fact that Magnolia needed to contribute something to the Christmas dinner she was attending very last minute, but alas she stood bringing only herself. 

Tyler opened the door grinning ear to ear as Magnolia stepped in and toe’d her shoes off. Her stomach was a bundle of nerves at the thought of meeting Tyler’s family and when she tried to walk behind him Tyler took notice and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding her tight to his side. 

 

“You’ll be fine,” he mumbled into her ear, giving her shoulder a little squeeze. 

 

Tyler led the way into the kitchen where his family was congregated, making last minute touches to the dishes spread out on the counter and stove. 

 

“Everyone, this is Magnolia,” he announced to his family.

 

At his voice all heads turned in their direction and Tyler was quick to make the introductions. A blush covered Magnolia’s face as she recognized Tyler’s sister as the one who walked in on her while she was doing her homework weeks ago, but thinking at the time that it was another one of Tyler’s hook-ups. 

 

“Is there anything I can do?” Magnolia offered, feeling bad for just standing around. 

“Everything is finished sweetheart,” Jackie smiled “you just go find yourself a seat at the table.”

 

Magnolia hesitated in her spot, but followed Tyler’s sisters as they made their way into the dining room. Dinner was spread out before them and the room was quiet as they passed food to the person next to them. She waited until everyone had their food before beginning to eat, not sure if they were a religious family and said grace before they ate.

 

“Alright everyone’s got everything?” Jackie asked as she looked around the table “Okay.”

 

She reached out her hands, taking one of Tyler’s and his sister Cassidy’s and Magnolia watched as the rest followed suit. Magnolia quickly wiped her hand on her pants, hoping Candace wouldn’t feel how damp her hand was. 

 

“Lord we would like to thank you for bringing us together once again for another Christmas. We thank you for our good health, the food you have blessed us with on this table, and for new friends. Amen,” Jackie ended and waited for the mumbles of “Amen” from the rest of the table. 

 

The group began scrapping their forks and knives against their plates, taking bites of the different foods that filled their plates for a few minutes before conversation began to flow. 

 

“So how did you and Tyler meet?” Cassidy questioned before stuffing a piece of turkey in her mouth. 

 

Magnolia thought about how she was going to answer that, because if they were being technical, the first time they had met was at The Goat, but she didn’t think she wanted Tyler’s family to know that they first met at a bar.

 

“I actually clean his house?” she answered more as a question, hoping they wouldn’t judge her “I go to school here and needed some extra cash so I got a job with the Maid Masters.” 

“Well I feel sorry for you,” Cassidy replied as laughed as Tyler questioned why “because you’re a pig, a mess, it’s like a tornado wherever you go.”

“Hey! I am not!” he objected “Tell them Magnolia, I am not.”

“He’s not  _ that bad _ ,” she relented “but that’s only because he knows what’s coming to him if it gets that bad.”

“I wasn’t aware this was pick on Tyler night,” he mumbled to himself “I thought it was Christmas.”

 

Magnolia snickered from beside him, nudging her elbow into his side, telling him to drop the “poor me” act. After talking about herself, she felt content to just sit back and listen, and sometimes laugh, at the way Tyler’s family interacted and the stories they shared with one another. After they were all finished eating Magnolia began to gather the plates and took them to the kitchen, discarding leftover bits into the garbage and rinsing plates and cutlery off. 

 

“Go sit, I’ve got this,” Tyler said, coming from behind her with the leftover plate of turkey. 

“It’s the least I can do,” she responded and went looking through drawers to find containers to place the leftover food in. 

 

The two worked side by side, chatting amongst themselves as the rest of his family came in and out of the kitchen bringing the rest of the dishes and glasses. Whatever Magnolia could fit into the dishwasher she did and the rest she filled the sink with soap and water and washed by hand. By the time she was finished with the dishes Jackie announced that it was time for dessert and Magnolia felt that she had a little bit of room left in her belly for something sweet. 

 

After another round of food and cleaning up, they all settled in the family room filling up the couches and chairs to watch The Christmas Story, which was apparently a tradition with them, and was also the worst Christmas movie in Magnolia’s opinion. Of course she wouldn’t say that out loud, so she sat quietly and watched with everyone else and listened as they laughed along to certain parts and cringed when the poor boy stuck his tongue on the icy pole. As the credits rolled Magnolia sent a silent “thanks” and stood up from her seat and stretched before mentioning that she was going to head out. She made sure to thank everyone and offer them best wishes for the new year before making her way to the front door with Tyler following in her tracks.

 

“Here,” he said, thrusting a box wrapped in Christmas paper into her hands.

“You didn’t have to,” Magnolia said, although she was slightly happy that he did.

“I guess I’ll see you around?”he asked.

“Yeah,” she smiled and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, before pulling away and heading out the door. 

 

Once Magnolia had made it back to her apartment she sat on her bed and ripped into the gift Tyler had gotten her. When he first handed her the box she noticed that it wasn’t too heavy, so she thought it was most likely some Dallas Stars gear. Instead she found an assortment of things; some were things she remembered telling him she needed but never thought to actually buy, like the set of white Apple headphones or the three multi-coloured notebooks that he had stashed at the bottom. Then there were items that reminded him of Magnolia, like the six pack of mini cans of Diet Coke, or the giftcard to Barnes & Noble. And lastly there were a few items that Tyler wanted Magnolia to know they were just for him, like the keychain he had made with a picture of them both, or the Victoria Secret giftcard he had stashed away. 

 

Tyler Seguin confused her to no fault, but she couldn’t help but smile at each gift she pulled out.

  
_ Thank you _ . It was a simple text, but Magnolia knew he would understand how much she appreciated everything with those two words.

 

\-------------------------

[Chapter Outfit](https://www.polyvore.com/another_christmas_story/set?id=218209232)

This is SOOOOOOOO long overdue and I'd like to apologize. I've had major writers block and it's taken me awhile to actually start writing again. Obviously this chapter is shorter, but it's something eh!?!?  
  
Anyways, if you've come back to read this THANK YOU FOR STICKING BY AND WAITING!! I don't think the gap will be as long with the next chapter...I really just made this one short so you guys could have something to read.  
  
\- Brooke  


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